Première of the first version of Ludwig van Beethoven´s "Fidelio Urfassung (Leonore)"

About the work and the première

On 1st February 2020, a new production of the first version of Fidelio (Leonore) will be presented for the first time at the opera house on the Ring to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven.

The only opera by Beethoven has had no less than three world premières (with different titles). The first version was performed in 1805 at the Theater an der Wien, the second around a year later, and the third in 1814 at the Court Opera at Kärntnertor Theatre. It is this third version that has been performed from day one at the opera house on the Ring, including at the reopening of the Wiener Staatsoper after the Second World War, in November 1955. Beethoven’s revisions include not just formal changes, he also made extensive changes to both the music and the libretto of the opera, which were tightened up, shortened and rearranged.
The current production of the last version (staged by Otto Schenk) has been in the opera house’s repertoire since 1970. To complement it, the original version of the opera is now being premièred at the Wiener Staatsoper. With this, the house on the Ring is offering the rare and exceptional opportunity for audiences to see both versions in one season (Otto Schenk’s production of Fidelio can be seen again in April/May 2020).

The creative team

Musikalisch geleitet wird die Neuproduktion von Tomáš Netopil. Der tschechische Dirigent war von 2008 bis 2012 Musikdirektor des Prager Nationaltheaters und Ständetheaters, ist seit 2013 Generalmusikdirektor des Aalto Theaters und der Philharmonie Essen und gastierte u. a. an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, der Semperoper, der Bayerischen Staatsoper, der Hamburgischen Staatsoper, in Paris, Antwerpen, Valencia, Venedig, bei den Salzburger Festspielen und am Opernhaus Zürich. Er debütierte 2014 mit Rusalka an der Wiener Staatsoper und dirigierte hier in weiterer Folge noch Repertoirevorstellungen von Das schlaue Füchslein, Così fan tutte, Kátja Kabanová und Idomeneo sowie die Premiere von Der Freischütz (2018).

With the first version of Fidelio (Leonore), German director Amélie Niermeyer introduces her work at the house on the Ring. Her career has taken her to Munich’s Residenz Theater, where she launched her directing career at age 23 and to which she later returned as resident director; to Schauspiel Frankfurt (as senior director); to Theater Freiburg (director from 2001 to 2005); to Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus (director from 2006 to 2011), amongst others. She has directed opera and play productions at the Thalia Theater Hamburg, Deutsches Theater Berlin, in Basel, Los Angeles, at the German Opera on the Rhine, in Salzburg, at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, at the Theater an der Wien and Hamburg State Opera. Since 2011, she has been professor of directing at the Salzburg Mozarteum, where she heads the acting and directing programme of studies.

The set was designed by Alexander Müller-Elmau, giving his début at the house on the Ring with this version of Fidelio; he has a close working relationship with director Amélie Niermeyer. The versatile German artist began his career as assistant set designer and director. He worked as set and costume designer (including at the Munich Residenz Theater, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Thalia Theater Hamburg, Deutsches Theater Berlin, and Theater in der Josefstadt), and has been a director himself since 2003. As a playwright, he has also written several works for the stage.

The costumes were designed by Belgian costume and set designer Annelies Vanlaere; she too is presenting her work for the first time at the Wiener Staatsoper. Her career to date has included engagements as costume assistant at the Thalia Theater Hamburg and as costume and set designer, amongst other things, at Staatstheater Stuttgart, Thalia Theater Hamburg, in Graz, Amsterdam, Cologne, Berlin, Munich and Basel.

Lighting design is by Gerrit Jurda (prior work at the house on the Ring: Samson et Dalila, 2018), the choreography is by Thomas Wilhelm (choreography for the Staatsoper production of Alceste, 2012), and the production dramaturge is Yvonne Gebauer.

The cast

On the opening night, all the singers are giving their Staatsoper role début in the first version of Fidelio (Leonore), with two of the soloists making their house début with this new production:
As Leonore, Irish soprano Jennifer Davis is making her Wiener Staatsoper début in the role of Leonore and her international début in the role. Soon after her initial appearances, the singer was engaged by London’s Royal Opera House, where she appeared as Adina (L’elisir d’amore) and Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), amongst others. In 2018 she gave her role début as Elsa (Lohengrin), a role that she also performed at Opera Vlaanderen and in Stuttgart. She also gave guest performances as Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at Opera North and as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at Irish National Opera. Future engagements include Contessa d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) at San Francisco Opera, Elsa at Opera Australia, in Lisbon and in Berlin.

In Amélie Niermeyer’s production, the character of “Leonore – the actress” appears on the stage alongside Leonore. In this role, the German film and theatre actress Katrin Röver makes her début at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Florestan is portrayed by Benjamin Bruns. The popular German tenor has been an ensemble member at the Wiener Staatsoper since 2010 and recently appeared as Lohengrin in Salzburg. At the house on the Ring, he has sung numerous roles, such as Tito (La Clemenza di Tito), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Matteo (Arabella), Conte d’Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Don Ramiro (La cenerentola), Camille Desmoulins (Dantons Tod), several of them in première productions.

Falk Struckmann can be seen as Rocco. The German bass-baritone is one of the leading singers in his Fach. Staatsoper audiences know him from many roles, such as Wotan/Wanderer (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Amfortas and Gurnemanz (Parsifal), Jochanaan (Salome), Scarpia (Tosca), Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg). His roles in premières at the house on the Ring to date include the title role in Der fliegende Holländer, Iago (Otello), Orest (Elektra) and Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten).

Thomas Johannes Mayer performs the role of Pizarro. The upcoming new production is the second première at the Staatsoper in which the internationally acclaimed German baritone can be heard, following the title role in the new production of Trojahn’s Orest last season. To date, he has also performed Telramund (Lohengrin), Wotan/Wanderer (Der Ring des Nibelungen) and Don Pizarro (Fidelio) here.

Staatsoper ensemble member Samuel Hasselhorn sings Don Fernando. After Die Frau ohne Schatten (as Der Einäugige), Fidelio/Leonore is his second première at the house on the Ring, where he has also been seen as Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Belcore (L’elisir d’amore), Schaunard (La Bohème) and Ottokar (Der Freischütz).

Israeli soprano Chen Reiss has been closely associated with the Staatsoper since her début as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) in 2009. In addition to Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Marzelline (Fidelio) and Adina (L’elisir d’amore), the internationally acclaimed artist has performed in five premières at the house on the Ring: Servilia (La clemenza di Tito), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), the title role in Das schlaue Füchslein, Ilia (Idomeneo) and most recently Ginevra (Ariodante).

Jörg Schneider performs the role of Jaquino. Previous Staatsoper premières with the popular Austrian tenor and Staatsoper ensemble member include Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Aegisthus (Elektra), Jaquino, and Narraboth and Herodes (Salome).

In the pit is the Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper, the chorus is the Wiener Staatsoper Chorus under the direction of Thomas Lang.

Fidelio live stream and on the radio.

The première on 1 February 2020 can be streamed live in HD via WIENER STAATSOPER live at home throughout the world (www.staatsoperlive.com) and will be broadcast live on radio Ö1 (+ EBU).

The première will also be streamed live on arte.tv/opera television on 1 February 2020. Furthermore, in the course of the 2019–2020 ARTE Opera Season, the online platform will also be streaming various productions from 23 opera houses in 14 different European countries.

Director Amélie Niermeyer can also be heard on the Ö1 radio programme Klassik Treffpunkt on 1 February 2020 (10.05 a.m., live from the Radio Cafe in Vienna).

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Fidelio Urfassung (Leonore) | Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor: Tomáš Netopil
Director: Amélie Niermeyer

Leonore: Jennifer Davis
Leonore - die Schauspielerin: Katrin Röver
Florestan: Benjamin Bruns
Rocco: Falk Struckmann
Pizarro: Thomas Johannes Mayer
Don Fernando: Samuel Hasselhorn
Marzelline: Chen Reiss
Jaquino: Jörg Schneider
1. Gefangener: Oleg Zalytskiy
2. Gefangener: Panajotis Pratsos

Première: 1. Februar 2020
5., 8., 11., 14. Februar 2020

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